CRETAN BREWERY Cretan Brewery S.A is the first microbrewery in the prefecture of Chania Crete. The brewery is located in Zounaki village, in the municipality of Platanias. Its highly sophisticated industrial facilities, occupy 2,000m 2, surrounded by orange trees and olive groves. Found, just 25 km away from Chania city center, on the way to the most popular beaches in the area like Balos, Elafonisi and Paleochora. The vision belongs to Ioannis Lionakis, who founded the brewery in 2007. Ioannis, a mechanical engineer in profession, was born, raised and proud to be Cretan. A long time beer enthusiast himself, he had the aspiration to offer local people and visitors, a fresh, delicious beer, which was something that was missing from the Cretan market. The vision became reality and reality turned into a perpetual commitment to excellence. Here at Cretan Brewery, our goal is the production and distribution of excellent, handcrafted beers that exude Crete, its traditions and its timeless values through every glass. Our top priority, is the creation of full-flavored, pure beers without preservatives nor additives, which will satisfy even the most demanding beer connoisseurs. Following the expansion of the brewery in 2015, we achieved a tenfold increase in our brewing capacity. In the new sector, we installed brand-new, up-to-date equipment,under the supervision of Mr Lionakis and Mr Nousios, an experienced brewmaster.
COMMITMENT TO QUALITY Our beer is fresh. Fresh equals unfiltered and unpasteurized. Pasteurization sterilizes and stabilizes beer, by killing any life in it, including yeast, thus enabling beer to be stored at room temperature for a longer period of time and endure long shipping transports. Filtering removes yeast, tannins and some large proteins from the beer, in order to increase its clarity. However, both procedures, also limit the nutritional value and strip the wonderful delicate flavor of beer. Fresh, unfiltered beer is the purest and most natural state of beer. It is murky, tasty and full flavored and retains all the nutrients from its raw materials as well as the yeast, which has very high nutritional value. The raw materials we use, are: malt, hops, yeast and water from the crystal clear springs of the White Mountains, which constitutes at least 90% of the beer body. Our main malts are supplied from Komotini, while our special malts, which are a lot less in proportion, are imported from Belgium. For hops, we reach out across the boarders since Greece doesn t produce any, selecting the finest from Germany, France and the USA. For water, we have built a special water treatment unit in order to optimize our supply, depending on the requirements of every different beer we produce. Having such a unit, allows us to be versatile and have the most suitable water for brewing. We ensure the quality of production by using state-of-theart equipment, while all beer batches undergo strict quality controls before the final stage of kegging. We take our business seriously, we keep up to date with the latest developments of today s brewing know how and we ensure regular training for all our employees.
RE- SPECT FOR PEOPLE Mr Lionakis s life motto, is the importance of being useful to one s community and respectful to the people around you. It is reflected in the way he operates, invests in the area and utilizes the area s physical and human resources. LOVE FOR THE CRETAN LAND We care about our land and we want to minimize our footprint as much as possible, for future generations. Our production process is environmentally conscious and we are constantly trying to find new ways, which will enable us be as energy efficient as possible. For our heating needs, we use solar panels as well as burning olive pits, both great sustainable energy resources. For our cooling needs, we have installed a geothermal cooling system, whose heat waste is also being used during the brewing process, rather than being wasted in the environment. A traditional brewery uses about 10lts of water to produce 1lt of beer. We have optimized the water usage and managed to decrease consumption to 5lt per lt of beer. By-products like leftover yeast and boiled barley, are used as animal feed and bio fertilizer. In general, we try to take advantage of every by-product of the brewing process in order to have the minimum impact on the environment.
DEDICATION TO HOSPITALITY Here in Cretan Brewery we are eager to share the delights of the brewing process with all of you! That is why, we recently created a specially designed open space on our premises, which welcomes visitors to seize a unique Cretan experience to the fullest. Our Open Brewery operates from April till October, Monday to Sunday, anytime between 10:00 and sunset. Visitors can take a relaxed stroll around our facilities in the heart of the Cretan countryside, surrounded by olive groves and orange trees. Finish off the visit with the most pleasant way, by sitting back and savoring one of our delicious and refreshing handcrafted beers, on our spacious balcony. For self-guided tours, there is no need for pre-booking. Visitors can drop by anytime during our working hours and enjoy the experience!
GUIDED TOURS For those that are eager to learn more about the beer brewing process, Cretan Brewery offers the opportunity to participate in guided tours, from Monday to Sunday, between 11:00 and 18:00. By simply booking in advance, a member of our highly trained staff, gives our visitors a tour around the facilities, during operation. During the guided tours, our visitors get the chance to familiarize with the raw materials being used, smell the rich aromas and feel the different malts. They learn about the origin of flavors that are found in different beer styles and experience a beer tasting of 4 different fresh beer samples, straight from our tanks. No beer tasting could be complete without some freshly prepared assortment of Cretan meze that we provide from local producers. Cretan Brewery organizes the following guided tour packages: BREWERY TOUR & BEER TASTING BREWERY TOUR & BEER TASTING AC- COMPANIED WITH CRETAN MEZE Tour around the facilities with a trained member of our staff, during operation, who will elaborate every stage of the brewing process. Final pit stop in front of our brew house for a presentation of all the raw materials being used in brewing. The tour finishes off with a beer tasting experience, of 4 fresh beer samples (100ml each) straight from our tanks, accompanied with Cretan bread sticks. Tour around the facilities with a trained member of our staff, during operation, who will elaborate every stage of the brewing process. Final pit stop in front of our brew house for a presentation of all the raw materials being used in brewing, followed by a beer tasting experience, of 4 fresh beer samples (100ml each) straight from our tanks, accompanied with Cretan bread sticks. What a better way to end this visit than with a 0.3 lt beer of your choice accompanied by local Cretan meze prepared with fresh ingredients from the area, while enjoying the views from our spacious balcony.
BEER STORE & SUMMER TAPROOM For us here in Cretan Brewery, it is never just about beer. It is all about a wholesome Cretan experience. That is why we built an open air bar and a beer store in our premises, where anyone can stop by, find all our year-round and seasonal beers and taste them straight up or fill up a growler, or find gifts and souvenirs of your visit here at Cretan Brewery. BEER AND BIKE As a brewing company with a strong local identity, we feel deeply connected with the Cretan land and its endless beauties. That is why, we urge our visitors to rent a bike and ride along the coast, on their way to the brewery. We offer a prebooked, guided bike ride to our brewery that includes pick up from and drop off at one s hotel. LOCATION Contact and reservations Tel: +30 28240 31002 Mobile: +30 6982483510 Email: tour@cretanbeer.gr Zounaki Platanias 73002 Chania, Crete www.cretanbeer.gr Find us on Google Maps